Far
by hikachu
Summary: There is something different about Barnaby's smile, today. Something new.


There is something different about Barnaby's smile, today. Something new.

Kotetsu had hoped that Jake's end would bring him closure and peace; it went beyond that, and Barnaby is learning about joy and wishes and warmth all over again. Lost feelings resurface in his heart like precious treasures as the present washes away the rotten corpses of regrets and what ifs.

Kotetsu watches, just a bit envious, as he types away at his laptop like he's a child happily sitting before a toy piano. This boy has nothing to do with the young man that used to write reports and fill forms because _that was part of his job_.

"Already slacking at this hour of the morning, Kotetsu-san?" Barnaby doesn't look away from the screen, but it's impossible to miss his smile, whether you look at his profile or simply hear his voice.

Kotetsu jumps like he's five again and his mother caught him stealing cookies.

"Uh, I—Ah, no, no…" he stares at his own computer, trying to focus on whatever's written before him, but the characters blur together and lose all meaning as his mind struggles with endless thoughts, half-finished sentences.

Barnaby chuckles: it's very short and quiet, but it's still laughter. It warms Kotetsu's heart and then he's at ease again.

"Hey, Bunny".

"Hm?".

Kotetsu thinks he will never get used to his partner responding so naturally, without anger, to the nickname.

"Did something good happen?".

"I only had a nice dream last night," Barnaby sounds almost too calm as he speaks, but his smile, though gentler, is still very vivid. In the meanwhile, the printer whirs and spouts printed paper like a small monster.

"Oh?" Kotetsu smiles mischievously. "What kind of dream was it?".

"That," the other says, shutting down his laptop and getting up, "is a secret".

Kotetsu protests and asks more questions, because it's his nature to be so stubborn and with too little respect for the privacy of others, and the more he cares for them, the worse he gets. Barnaby feels a little honored, but he's already decided he won't talk.

"Kotetsu-san," he says without turning around. "Please, concentrate on your current task. We have an interview in one hour and forty minutes, and we were clearly told that the reports need to be turned in before we leave".

Barnaby uses the same words his old self would while everything else is different. Brighter. Kotetsu, on the other hand, is the same as ever; Barnaby thinks it's good that some things will never change.

He walks out of their shared office, into the hallway with the large windows: he had never noticed that Sternbild was so full of life, that there was more to the city than thieves and murderers waiting to get caught.

The freshly printed sheets are still warm in his hands. Barnaby begins to hum a childish song, a nursery rhyme from his childhood, without sadness or longing. The dream repeats itself behind closed eyelids as he waits for the elevator.

It's a nice dream, just like he told Kotetsu, and also, a very simple dream.

It's a sunny day, and the two of them are together, in their office, talking about nothing important over lunch. Barnaby's hair is noticeably shorter and he's wearing new glasses that are less fancy and more elegant; they suit his features which, at some point, have grown sharper. Kotetsu's beard is still as ridiculous as ever, but it's streaked with grey and – he huffs and sulks every time his partner reminds him – he needs glasses to read nowadays; the wedding ring is still in place, of course, but, in his wallet, Kaede's round and childish face has been replaced with the picture of a young woman donning a sailor uniform.

It's the first time in a long while that Barnaby has dreamed of the future, and the first time that a dream has felt more like a promise than an illusion of wishful thinking or things forever lost.

He steps into the elevator and thinks that tomorrow will be a good day too, because there is nothing he can't change, if he doesn't like it: Barnaby's life is his again.


End file.
